I don't know how constructive I can be without knowing your style, strengths, and weaknesses. i feel it would just be a bunch of Monday morning quarter backing on how I would play my style in each position. But we could have completely different games.

For example, we could start by me asking why you pulled guard?
Did he give you reason to fear his takedown? What is your no gi stand up game plan?

For example, we could start by me asking why you pulled guard?
Did he give you reason to fear his takedown? What is your no gi stand up game plan?

His hand fighting was better than mine, he also felt stronger. I knew from his background that he has more experience dealing with wrestlers, but that his leglock game is weak. I tried a single and he stuffed it, due to the short amount of time of the match I figured we best get started on the ground before I get worn out on the feet.

Makes sense. When you ended up with the butterfly hooks, and double underhooks, you pulled him into closed guard. I would have preferred to immediately shift his weight to your shins, drive him back, and sit up into either a sweep if you could cut the angle, or at least an open guard (butterfly, DLR, single X) and then sweep or drag.

In closed guard you seemed focused on wrist/arm control instead of head control. But nice guard regardless. Good leg lock awareness... Nice pass..

Now we come to the seat belt grip. I don't know how strong your back take is, but once you couldn't get the bottom hook I would have let go and come on time for side control.

Once he got on top it looked like you were defending right. Trying to push in the armpit and shrimp. Then framing. I can't imagine how hard it was to move under his weight.

We could talk frame by frame what variation of escape I'd use while you are under half/side/NS but I doubt I would be saying anything you didn't know. He was doing a good job at seep rating your arms, making it hard for you to move in multiple directions at once. Plus he is just trying to hold you instead of opening up.

I will say when someone is NS I don't like keeping my arms on either side of their hips. I pick a side, put both hands there and bridge/shrimp into/away from that side.

But really nice reversal/guilotine at the end.

Honestly, I understand why you would want the back, but if I could give any "advice" it would be to try to stay on top.

0:28-32 He grabs your head and you break free after a few seconds. When this happens early in the match, it is important to respond with aggression in order to instill doubt in them and to set the tone yourself, rather than letting them do so. Make sure you do not compromise your own defense when you counterattack however. You don't have to expose yourself unduly, just make a statement. Maybe a solid snapdown attempt. Something like low risk, high gain.

0:48 You go for a half-hearted single and then pull guard. Considering your future plans, I'd advise you to adopt the attitude of NEVER giving up the takedown like that. Pulling guard should be your last resort. Go to all fours if you need to (this only applies if you're still facing them, not if they are already behind you), but NEVER give up the takedown without an epic fight. Do not forget that he who lands on top frequently wins, even if all he does is stall.

1:19 You go for a sweep in one direction, but don't go the other when he bases out to stop you in the initial attempt. Chain your sweeps just like you chain your subs. The higher skilled your opponent, the more you will need to chain techniques together to beat them. If that doesn't work, reverse direction again. You can't hesitate when you do this. You need to be relatively seamless in your movement to help keep him off balance.

1:52 Get your elbow inside his knee and fan it outward to stop him from clamping his knees. No knee clamp, no submission. You may have done this anyway. The image is not clear enough to tell in the video.

2:40-43 Shuck off that head control right away. Duck your head while pushing his arm off with your hand. There's an old saying in wrestling, "Where the head goes, the body will follow." It's a key point of control. Don't let him have it.

3:17 You roll him into back mount but don't get your hooks set. If you get three-quarters of the way to a scoring position, you need to become extremely aggressive immediately to consolidate the position and earn those points. You are still stopping briefly before getting all the way there.

So, on one hand you need to commit to more offense, but you still have to recognize when you're losing ground and know when to bail out in order to maintain control. It's not an easy tightrope to walk.

3:28 When you find yourself losing in that position, crossface them hard while turning your hips away at the same time. Be advised, all that will typically earn you is facing them on all fours. You lost his back a few seconds earlier when he was able to start turning to face you.

5:27 Excellent use of your knee to disrupt his spinal alignment while you were under his side mount. Combine this with framing with your arms at the same time to create more space, better escape opportunities.

6:01 He orbits around your head, passing through N-S to stop you from creating space. Try to switch your hips when he does this so you're already facing him, ready to shrimp away already as he comes around to the other side.

Be advised, a skilled grappler will block your hip to prevent this.

Awesome finish my friend. He may have won, but, unlike him, you never stalled and you put on an excellent offense at the end of the match.

Last edited by jnp; 2/10/2013 1:13am at .
Reason: Forgot "offense" and added detail in the paragraph about chaining sweeps.